Florentine sculptor, painter, and draughtsman. He was a favourite of the Medici family, but he is remembered more for his unattractive character and the antipathy of his contemporaries than for the quality of his work.
His most famous and conspicuous sculpture is
Hercules and Cacus (Piazza della Signoria, Florence, finished 1534), a pendant to
Michelangelo s David. The commission had originally been intended for
Michelangelo himself, and Bandinelli s ponderous figure, which he had boasted would surpass David, was ridiculed by
Cellini and others. Bandinelli had a habit of failing to fulfil his commissions and
Cellini s accusations of incompetence had much justification. In return, Bandinelli attempted to sabotage
Cellini s career, as he also did with another rival,
Ammanati. Bandinelli was a fine draughtsman. His paintings include a pompous
self-portrait in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston.
